


April is 'All In All, I'd Rather Be . . .' Month

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-07 00:00:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18227183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: April Fools Day, although delayed, had been more eventful than any of the team had really been expecting.  Now, they had to get caught up with the Theme of the Month.  After all, April was 'All In All, I'd Rather Be . . .' month.Well, yes, it had started out to be a travelogue kinda of a thing, the original title being 'All In All, I'd Rather Be In . . .' but had decided that gave Actor an unfair advantage, so they made a little change.  Now, the scope was far less limited, far more interesting.





	April is 'All In All, I'd Rather Be . . .' Month

They'd gotten a late start on the month what with being across the Channel for the first part of the month, then having to deal with a delayed April Fools Day on April 11th. Well, they HAD to, didn't they?? It wouldn't have been right to just skip it!

It had taken them a good week to recover from that fiasco, so they hadn't really started on the Theme of the Month 'All in All, I'd Rather Be . . .' til almost the 19th.

By the 25th, they'd installed some basic game rules, the primary one affecting Goniff. Somehow, a lot of their basic rules seemed to involve Goniff, in one way or the other, for some odd reason.

"No, you can't use The Cottage again, ya dumb Limey, not for this, or for anything else. Not the garden, the kitchen, or anywhere else there more than once a month. In fact, after that last . . ."

"Ah, Casino, give it a rest! Told you I was sorry, didn't I? And I didn't mean to get you all 'ot and twitchy. Well, okay, so maybe I did, but it wasn't my fault Josie wasn't in the mood for company to take care of that little matter for you, now was it? Way she was talking earlier, thought she might be. Didn't know she already 'ad plans. So, alright, I don't use the Cottage. For THIS time, anyway," the Englishman pouted. "But that means you can't use your folks' place more than once neither. Sides, 'earing about your mum's cooking and all, just makes me 'ungry."

"Goniff, everything makes you hungry, or almost everything," Chief laughed. Well, that was true enough; Goniff had rather a strong appetite, well, strong appetites, plural, if you wanted to be totally honest, not that being totally honest was so much a goal with the guys. "And, Pappy, yer getting so picky, what about Actor? Do we limit the 'beautiful woman' stories for him?"

"Should. We sure hear enough of them the rest of the year," Casino groused. "Course, that might not leave Beautiful anything worth saying, so maybe not," giving a mocking glance at the tall Italian puffing so serenely on his pipe.

Actor just sat there and looked haughty, though thinking seriously of a couple or three entries he might bring to the game that DIDN'T involve women, just to prove he could. Somehow, that should just be EASIER than it was. Were beautiful women really that much of an obsession with him? Or maybe just something he thought these men could relate to, whereas some of his other experiences might not really have an impact.

And why was it important he bring ANYTHING to this foolish game, anyway? Couldn't he just sit out April?? And, to think of it, surely he would be better off sitting out May as well, what with THAT theme - 'The Merry Month of May-Hem'! 

What on earth had possessed him to come up with this 'theme of the month' idea in the first place??!! It was all so very unlike him! And actually participating???

Sometimes, in his quieter moments, he worried just a little about the odd effect these men seemed to have on him; it didn't seem right, somehow, him playing all these games. It didn't suit his self-image at all. And he REFUSED to admit, even to himself, that he was enjoying those games tremendously. 

He'd discussed it with Craig a time or two, but the Lieutenant had just shaken his head and told him THEY had more important things on their mind than the nonsense the guys could get up to. Actor had felt a little embarrassed at the lecture he'd received, knowing at least Garrison was never tempted to join in whatever the guys decided would be a tip-top notion. 

{"Well, it is hardly likely, now is it? I really cannot imagine him doing so in the first place. Of course, he might be a little better off if he let himself relax just a little, though I doubt that will happen, not anytime soon. But get involved in any of the nonsense? The 'theme of the month club'?? No, that is most unlikely."}. 

No, he just had to admit the Lieutenant was a more strictly disciplined man than he was, and go forward.

When you got right down to it, as a theme, or at least as far as they got into it, April's 'All in All, I'd Rather Be . . .' was a bust. After all, things were busy the latter part of April, what with the war and all, and they only had a couple, three nights where they could sit around, gab, drink and handle the theme in the way it was intended, nice and relaxed. After that, they did it one by one, as they found time, sometimes on an airplane, sometimes a sub, once in the back of a wagon, under a load of straw, where they had to whisper the words, at least til Garrison had hissed at them to hush. Usually, someone would just start, "All in All, I'd Rather Be . . ." and the rest would listen, then laugh or comment or groan, depending.

Now, it was April 30th, the last day for that particular theme, their minds already racing ahead to the 'Merry Month of May-hem'. Still, perhaps there was time for one or two more rounds, even though it was late. 

No, probably not. And besides, they weren't even together, so that made the whole thing pointless. They were in London while Garrison took care of some military business, on leave, but each off doing their own thing, and each of them were so deeply involved in where they WERE and what they WERE doing, the whole 'All in All, I'd Rather Be . . .' just didn't cross anyone's mind. At least for that evening, they were content enough with where they were, more or less.

For example -

He gulped, looking quickly up into the eyes of the man standing so close, hardly a finger's distance between them, searching for who knows what, then his lashes dropping again, shielding his own eyes, hazy blue, from view. With him pressing himself back so tightly against the wall, anyone looking on might have gotten the impression he was being physically intimidated. 

They would have been wrong. Tempted, yes, perhaps, but not intimidated. He knew, without one particle of doubt, it would only take one word, one slight movement and the other would step back, step away. Whatever there was between them, and that was still a matter highly in question, fear had nothing to do with it. Well, not in the usual sense, anyway.

A soft voice murmured, "look at me," but he kept his eyes down, fiercely shaking his flaxen blond head.

"You won't look at me? Why?" and there was no anger in the voice, only a careful neutrality, as if the other was being very careful not to leap to any conclusions, not trying to read his mind. The strain in that voice was evident, showing it was not an easy thing, being that neutral, still allowing Goniff to be the one in control of the moment.

Well, that was probably good, at least the not reading his mind, since at that moment, HE didn't know what he was thinking. {"Might be better if 'e COULD read my mind; maybe 'e could figure it out better than w'at I'm doing,"} he thought, almost amused at the notion.

"Why?" the voice persisted, as if it really wanted, really NEEDED to know.

"I think maybe I'm afraid," he finally admitted. "Of what I'll see, maybe of w'at I WON'T see."

"Are you sure you aren't afraid of letting ME see, maybe more than you want me to?" the voice gently asked, now perhaps a tinge of sadness there.

It was the sadness that gave him the courage to look up, to meet those green eyes, and to speak. "Prob'ly that too. Not too good at letting anyone see inside; I'm out of practice, 'Gaida says. But mostly, afraid I'll see w'at I don't want to see, or really, maybe NOT see w'at I'd give most anything TO see," he admitted with a wry smile, that being more honesty than he'd offered in a long time, at least to anyone other than the redhead down at the Cottage.

"Take a good look, Goniff. Take as long as you need to see, to figure it out. What do you think you see? What do you need to see that isn't there?" Garrison smiled down at him, that smile equally wry, self-amused, self-deprecating. It wasn't like this was a situation he was accustomed to either. Even now, he had a hard time believing the situation he'd found himself in.

Goniff squinted, blue eyes looking into green, searching, anxious frown on his face, and then his lashes quivered, lowered once more as if in thought. 

Then Garrison's smile disappeared entirely, and there was no amusement on his face as he waited for some sign, some word, telling him where he stood. Part of him wanted to run from the sheer stupidity of what he was doing, part of him was willing to stand there all night if that was what was needed to get a answer that, one way or another, would end his confusion.

One hesitant hand reached out to touch his chest, slid upward to his shoulder, then to his neck, cupping it, urging his head forward, down, and the touch of warm lips on his gave him his answer, all he needed to know, at least for the moment. One kiss, leading to another, to another, to another . . .

 

Craig Garrison sighed, pulled his errant mind back away from a daydream he really hated to abandon, but from the rumble of conversation around him, the various and sundry people in this bedamned meeting had FINALLY decided to get down to business. He took one more sip of his coffee, forced himself to NOT look at his watch yet again, picked up his pen, and got back to the war. 

{"Damn them, they should have gotten with the program a hell of a lot sooner, or else waited . . ."}. 

He hid an amused smile. No, waiting wouldn't have been a good idea, not with the direction that daydream had been headed. It could have gotten all kinds of embarrassing, and would be still, if the meeting was adjourned right now. 

Though it had been interesting, finding himself playing both roles like that; he'd never had that happen before, shifting uncomfortably in his chair, noting that the whole thing had been disturbingly arousing. He preferred not to think too deeply about it, at least not right now. For now, he had to focus on whatever lunacy HQ had come up with. Lord knows they had the damnedest ideas, and insisted on involving him in things he had NO reason to be involved in!

He hoped the meeting, a totally unnecessary one as far as he could tell, wouldn't take too long. He had a daydream to replay when he got back to the hotel; he was really anxious to see how it all turned out. After all, it was still April, for another five or six hours anyway, and, he chuckled to himself, {"All in All I'd Rather Be . . ."}

Part of him was already thinking ahead to tomorrow, 'The Merry Month of May-hem.' Surely he wouldn't be getting any wild urges where THAT was concerned! Though there was that ONE idea that had briefly occurred to him. Hmmmm.


End file.
